Here is an interesting interview of veteran LA dancemaker, Karen Goodman, by the LA Times Jennifer Fisher:<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><B>Powerful Connections Through Body and Soul</B><BR>In an effort to help viewers 'get' dance, Karen Goodman brings her new solo piece closer to the people. <P>By JENNIFER FISHER<P> Like many modern dancer-choreographers, Karen Goodman meets a lot of people who tell her they don't really "get" dance. "They want to know what's it for," she says, or, more often, are indifferent to the topic. Goodman wants to change that. <BR> "I meet people at parties, and the comment I always get is, 'Oh, you're a dancer.' " A frozen look comes over her face to illustrate the expression. "Then I get a once-over from top to toe, and they say, 'Oh, well, I guess it keeps you in really good shape.' End of conversation."<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><B><A HREF="http://www.latimes.com/news/asection/20001008/t000095909.html" TARGET=_blank>More</A></B>

Though I am not a modern dancer, at all, I get a similar response sometimes when people learn that I am a ballet dancer. They say something like "I don't go to the ballet because I don't understand it". <P>My response usually is - you don't have to "understand it". You just go to enjoy it. I don't "understand" the violin - but I just enjoy listening to a musician play a violin. I don't "understand" how a television works - but I do watch it. <P>When I am asked if I "do dance" for the exercise, I say no - I do dance for the joy of it. And, to me, dance without music is exercise.

i agreee with the situation the writer describes at introductions.....you know, the 'you must be fit!' line. i'm not. and i'm only a teacher now, so i'm not saying i'm a 'dancer'..thing is, i'm finding (depending on what i teach and what level) i actually physically DO less and less now, while teaching....so i'm getting less and less fit precisely BECAUSE i'm a dance teacher! <P>oh....did i forget to mention that the amount of time i spend on this computer and this board just MIGHT have something to do with it, also?........

OK - here it is - the statement I REALLY hate - when people say to me "You are so lucky to be slender" - My stock answer is "Luck has nothing to do with it!!" when you take ballet classes seven days a week and teach 15 (or so) and rehearse and perform - luck has nothing to do with being slender. Geez

This may not be about getting dance, but understanding dancers, but in an interview in the Anchorage Press last year they asked what the strangest thing about being a dancer in Anchorage is. I said, : "I don’t know if this happens to other people, but when you tell people you’re a dancer, they think you’re a stripper."<P>On another note, I can be continually amazed by the the richness of dance - how much there is to think about - what it feels like to move what how, comparing and contrasting events and performances, and so utterly much more. So if I, an interested, invested person keep discovering more, it's easy to see how the "layperson" (doesn't dance or pay much attention) might not see all the little this-es and that-s.

This is a great topic. (And a really good article in Dance Insider, Grace) Besides dance not being consider "a real job" (my father still thinks that I'm avoiding work somehow) it also has the stigma of not being considered "serious art". I had a conversation at a music performance on Friday with an acquaintance who I hadn't seen in years and who wasn't aware that I was involved in dance. We talked a bit about how if you tell someone you work in the dance field they are usually less impressed than if you say you work in film, visual arts, music, etc. Dance conjures images of children's recitals for many and of course the question of whether you are a stripper comes up frequently. I think that Internet will be really useful for changing people's perceptions of dance. It's so hard to get people into theatre seats who have preconceived notions about dance but with more bandwith video should be easier to access on the net. And the use of multimedia in performance may develop younger audiences for an art form that needs a boost (read *money*). I've heard some grumbling about multimedia being the new "sexy" thing but people grumbled about Elvis too, lol!

Then the issue here is: how do we sell dance?<P>Do we use sex appeal, which is what so many companies are doing now? Looking around at posters and billboards in SF, companies like SFB, ODC/SF and Diablo Ballet are using sexy, scantilly clad figures to promote their performances.<P>Or do we educate? SFB seems to have started doing this by asking volunteers to present the concept of ballet to school children, in the hopes of making going to the ballet a family event.<P>But what then about the current adult population at large? How do we entice them to see dance? How do we make them understand and appreciate it? So many people just don't want to because they don't know what it's like. A couple friends whom I finally managed to persuade to go to the ballet with me said, "Wow! We didn't know ballet was like this. Azlan, please invite us for the next show."<P>Marie, do you think the internet is really helping? I would hope so but...<p>[This message has been edited by Azlan (edited October 15, 2000).]

For a long time I would have said that I didn't "get" dance. I do have a vague memory of donning some dance shoes as a youngster and HATING the class, refusing to go back. <P>My parents didn't send me back to dance, but they did provide me with a good musical foundation: piano lessons, trips to the symphony, lots of classical music at home. Music was something that I "got". But then, I had exposure to it and education about it.<P>I started reading about dance a number of years ago, once both my children had been taking classes for awhile. I also started taking them to performances and even took some classes myself. Now...I don't "get" things the way you folks who are dancers do, but I am starting to "get" it more now that I have read a bit and seen performances.<P>Perhaps the trick is to have exposure to the art form? (for those of us who aren't inherently drawn to it, that is). I believe that is the intention of some of the programs in larger cities in the US I've read about..but here one runs into difficulty with the cost of the venture...how to balance the cost of a present set of performances, say, with the potential benefit that audience members may possibly in the distant future be able to contribute financially as ticket-buyers?<P>Probably an age old dilemma.

Yes, there's always the cost issue, even when dancers don't get paid very much... Catch-22.<P>But here is a little known fact, standing room and rear balcony side tickets at SFB and several other companies can be had for as little as 12 USD.<p>[This message has been edited by Azlan (edited October 15, 2000).]

yes - i always bought standing room or the cheapest seats in london. and yesterday i paid the equivalent of about US $6 for a 'very restricted view' seat at CATS (the musical which everyone else in the world saw about twelve years ago...! )<P>i was right beside the stage, had one singer/dancer talking into my face (eye-contact etc)....quite funny! - and entrances and exits made within a few feet of me - great fun for a few children sitting nearby, to be so close. missing the overall flat-on impression of the stage, to be had from the US $30 seats (about 98% of the theatre) didn't matter to them, or to me.<P>just for variety, i moved at interval into an empty medium quality seat, considerably further back. in retrospect, i enjoyed my close-up ($6) view of act 1 more, than my 'better' ($30) view of act 2!<P>there's (almost) always a way, if you want to be there!

Re Azlan's question, how do we sell dance? Exposure (and I don't mean naked bodies, lol). This is tricky in a business that doesn't have a lot of money for marketing campaigns. I've seen some wonderful innovative advertising that gives dance a new spin--Oregon Ballet Theatre comes to mind. For small companies and independent artists there's always the good old school tour, which can be awful in terms of conditions (I hated dancing on cold hard gym floors) but great in respect of audience building. So many artists recall the first performance they saw as a child as their connection to the art form. <BR>I'm hoping that the internet will be an "in" for those who may take a chance on a live performance after an internet preview. The internet is relatively inexpensive and stable format compared to other advertising methods, ie., television commercials and print ads which are timely but fleeting. Musicians have really cashed in on the video medium in the past fifteen years or so. I know video doesn't always do dance the greatest justice but I'm for anything that encourages people into the theatre. People often spend a *lot* of money on concert tickets, I think if they felt more educated they would be more inclined to spend the same kind of money on dance.<BR>

The opera here in San Diego really sells opera. They have a very aggressive marketing agenda but also a terrific outreach program for the city schools. They came to my son's school one day and did real stage makeup on the kids and then sang for them - and got them to sing and act out stories. The kids loved it. And, if most of them were like mine - they went home and told their parents and siblings about it.<P>Jacques D'Amboise pretty much does the same thing in the New York city area. He has probably introduced more kids - inner city kids too, to dance than anyone I can think of. <P>I think that the pioneer in out-reach programs was Anna Pavlova. She travelled the world selling dance - and did not quibble about presenting herself (illustrious as she was) in whatever venue was available. Look how much talent she attracted to the dance!! If you read the biographies of dancers at that time - one after another credits Pavlova as his/her first view of the ballet.

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